Meeting Deadlines

 Goodness knows I've missed plenty of deadlines over the past couple chaotic years, but here are a couple things I (mostly) got done on time. I say mostly, because technically, both their birthdays have passed. Since I never planned on mailing these, and I did finish it before we take our trip to see them, I'll count that as a deadline met. 

Mr. X's I Spy quilt finally got it's binding on. It's washed and ready to go on his bed, if he has a twin sized bed yet, I'm not sure he does. DS the Younger has orders to move this summer, further away :-(  so they may be waiting until after the move to get him a larger bed. 

For his little sister, we've got the doll cradle my grandfather made me all spruced up for a new owner. DH sanded it down and gave it a new coat of paint. I made all new linens for it, and of course, got a new baby doll for it.

The doll quilt is a little big for the cradle, but I wanted it large enough for Miss X to be able to wrap her baby in it if she wanted to. I used the same fabric for the quilt backing as I did for the mattress and pillow. I only had a remnant of that fabric, so the bits remaining will go straight into the scrap user system, there's less than a fat quarter left, and nothing WOF.

I got a couple birthday pics of the granddaughter this is going to. She is such a cutie!

Now that those are done it's on to the next things. I hope to get one of the wedding quilts I need this year cut out this week, and I have a couple non-deadline projects I'd like to make some headway on. I had hoped to start quilting the other I Spy quilt, but I don't have enough of the thread I wanted to use to quilt it. I ordered another cone of it, and I'll start quilting it when that arrives. The other I Spy quilt is my next deadline, for a May birthday. 

I may be making another doll cradle set for a different May birthday. I had asked DD#1 if she was interested in the doll cradle when my oldest granddaughter was done with it. DD#1 has two daughters, so I thought she might want it. At the time she said no, so the decision was made for it to go to Miss X. 

Well, now DD#1's youngest daughter is all about her baby doll.

We've got that figured out though. Now that DH is woodworking, he's going to make a doll cradle for this one, and we'll start that whole "this is the cradle my grandfather made me" over again. When you've got four granddaughters, and only one doll cradle, it's amazing that it worked out as well as it did. The age difference between the oldest and youngest granddaughter worked out so my grandfather's cradle went to both of them. DD #1's oldest daughter was never into baby dolls, and DH will make a cradle for this one. My three girls just shared the doll cradle when they were little since they were all together. 

I've been doing a bit of Easter prep as well. Last year the family Easter was cancelled due to Covid, but I'm hopeful we can work out an outdoor family brunch this year. We managed Thanksgiving in a Covid safe manner, and I think we can do the same for Easter. I'm glad Easter isn't any later than it is, or it might have been too hot, but I think we'll be able to make it work with some pop up canopies for shade. The eggs are stuffed for the egg hunt, so I'm routing for it to work out!

Home for a Couple of Days

 I'm home for a couple days, before I'm off again. Funny thing is, I had an opportunity to spend time with a different couple of grandkids while I'm home (sleepover at Nana's during spring break, anyone?) Now that DH and I get up ridiculously early (4:30 AM), I thought I'd still have a bit of a chance to sew, but as I found out this morning, one of these grandkids is a super light sleeper and he woke up as soon as I started sewing, even though the sewing machine is in the basement and he was on the upper level. 

I did have a little bit of time Tuesday before they got here (I got home Monday night). I got the top of the doll quilt I need to finish made.

The baby doll I got for the cradle is in non-removable clothing of peach and green, so I think this quilt adds more colors but will still match the doll. 

I don't think I'll have any more sewing time this week, but I might be able to get the doll pillow and mattress cut out. I did get the I Spy quilt I'm giving away in a week trimmed, but no binding yet. I need to go back up to Phoenix for a couple days, then it's back home for a mad rush to finish the linens for the doll cradle and get the binding on the I Spy quilt so we can bring them to some of our other grandkids. It's a very busy March, and I realized we already have plans two weekends in April and two weekends in May! I would imagine life will calm down in June when it's usually blisteringly hot here. 

Since I haven't been sewing much, I don't have much to show. I got about 50 blocks for that red/cream Carolina Chain quilt cut out, so that's something, right?

Unexpected Change of Plans

Due to a family emergency in one of my DSIL’s families, this week I found myself in Phoenix helping take care of a couple of grandkids so DSIL and DD#2 can do what needs to be done. Not much of a hardship for me to spend time with a couple of grandsons ;-) I think I’ll be up here next week as well. 

I had to pack quickly to come up, but this is an occasion where having so many projects going at once came in handy. Although I’ve brought a sewing machine to DD #2’s house before, I knew this wasn’t a good time for that. I did grab three projects “just in case” I had the time or inclination. 

I grabbed some strips from my scrap user system and I’m subcutting the strips at the kitchen table when the little one is napping or at night when both boys are in bed. I’ve been wanting to make a red/cream Carolina Chain quilt for a while. The blocks are simple, with only two sizes to cut. The stripology mini ruler works great for traveling. I’m using wonder clips to clip the pieces for one block together. That way I don’t have to worry about the pieces getting mixed up as the project box get moves around. 

I brought a hand sewing project I doubt I’ll end up working on, and I brought some squares that need diagonal sewing lines drawn which I might work on. 

Mostly I’ll be spending time with these two

Can you tell the younger one is the rough and tumble, play hard and get dirty type?

I don’t know exactly when I’ll get back home, but I’ll share some great sunset pics DH took on his way home from dropping me off. 

An Hour Per Day

 I've got quilts that need to be finished, so I'm back to FMQ one hour per day.  I did get both I Spy quilts basted last weekend, and since I'm just meandering on them, I can quilt a twin sized quilt in about four hours. I'll finish quilting the first one tomorrow, and I should get the other one done next week. I will likely wait to bind them until they are both quilted, since they are both getting the same binding. 

I have three wedding quilts to make this year, and one of them I've really been stuck on. The other two I have everything decided for. The more I debated on what to do about the third one, the more stuck I got. That is, I was stuck, until I realized I already had a quilt top finished that met most of the criteria I had for the quilt. It was the right size, and mostly the right colors. Rather than start a new quilt, when I've been so undecided on it, I'm opting to just use the quilt top I have ready to go. It's a fairly large throw sized quilt, but short of twin sized. I decided to order some extra wide minky for the backing, which I think makes for a pretty luxurious backing for a throw. FMQ with a minky backing is hard on my arm, minky causes so much drag, that I only do it for wedding throws, or an occasional throw for a very special person. I would never use minky for a bed quilt. I don't see any reason to use minky to back a baby quilt either, since most babies never have a blanket in their crib anymore, and baby quilts are mostly used for tummy time now. 

With the two I Spy quilts I need to finish ready to quilt, but me having to limit FMQ time to an hour per day, and my next deadline quilt being that wedding quilt I'm now using a completed top for, I felt like I had a bit of extra time to just work on whatever I wanted. After I take a big break after my FMQ time, I do go back to sewing a bit, I'm mostly just sewing up bits and parts that have been hanging around. 

I finished with these blocks, and instead of putting the Flying Geese quilt up on the design wall, I put this one up. I've got borders chosen, but not cut yet. Once I get this quilt center sewn up, I'll work on cutting the borders. 

I've still got leftover quillow bits. I made some of these blocks.

I've got some made in greens and neutrals as well, but I haven't pressed those yet. These 36 patches finish at 6". I haven't decided what to do with them yet. They might end up being the centers of 8 pointed stars, or maybe I'll just border each center with a contrasting fabric. I haven't decided yet. 

Some of the quillow leftovers I had cut into small rail blocks, and today I made my first block with those.

I don't have enough units made for very many of these, so they may end up being a long term thing. Who knows, if I decide not to make more of them, I'll eventually just use them in a quilt backing. 

Last weekend I got all the little Dresden wedges turned, but I still haven't pressed them yet. That will be this weekends project. 

I've got a bunch of them, so it will take a while to press them all. 

In my effort to empty some bins in the sewing room, I came across some cut units that I never sewed up at all. I've got some triangle in a square units, and some QST's pieces in a couple different sizes that I never did anything with. I think I'll be pulling those pieces out soon and sewing up the units. Once I have the units sewn, I can see if I can come up with some ways to use them. Some of these pieces I don't even know where they came from. Did I just cut too many for certain project and didn't use them right away? Did I just cut up some scraps when I was cutting out another quilt and had my die cutter out? I don't remember, and it doesn't really matter. Playing with random units can be a lot of fun, and if I don't like whatever I come up with, I don't have to make a quilt from them, I can always use them in a quilt backing. 

I went shopping with my sister this week, and I came across something at Hobby Lobby I couldn't resist. 

I'm going to hang this in my sewing room. Hobby Lobby had a bunch of really cute sewing decor on sale for 50% off, but this was the only one that I couldn't resist. I get really grumpy if I can't sew for several days, so sewing really does help me cope with other stuff that goes on. I don't buy a lot of home decor, but I've been trying to pretty up my sewing room a bit, because I spend so much time in there.